Thread: Plugger and The Camel

Great rebuild going on here. I need to get stuck back into my S2A.

This is how I did my SSWC on my series 2A.

If you zoom in you can see the over centre latch in the last picture

I really like what you've done there Mud!!

Andrew,
good job with that Gerry holder.
The straps that hold the Gerry cans on the Perentie would be a good option to hold yours down. They are available from Robco Products at an ok price.


As for thieves pinching either the full Gerries, or just milking the fuel out of them, I am tempted to have one full of diesel on the back of my Perentie, that is just there for the thieves, and throw a hand full of mothballs in it.


Cheers, Mick.

Hi Mick,

Thanks for the lead mate and also the kind words!! Yeah, the tea-leaves sure make life hard for everyone!

Cheers,
Tricky

Hi Guys,

On Saturday I had some time spare to get the steering relay rebuilt. As you may have read all the parts came in last week from the UK - Craddocks did a good job of getting everything to me and it was all packaged very nicely! While rebuilding the steering relay is not a huge job, it does come with its own challenges - mainly getting the spring compressed inside the unit....(we all know how dangerous that could be)!

So, with all the parts now at hand, it was time to get underway.


First order of business was to put the new seals into the end caps. These seals stop the oil inside escaping past the shaft. However, one of my end caps had taken some blunt force trauma and needed some love:


So it was out with the die-grinder to just remove that little burr to allow for the seals to go in nice and square and without any damage. I coated the outside of the seals with some Dirko (RTV) to make sure they would be oil-tight and not leak past the seal-cap interface


Then it was on with the bottom cap


Then once the cap was on, I inverted the relay body so it was right side up. I then proceeded to build the centre shaft with its thrust washer, split bushes, spring washer and spring and put it in the unit. Then it was case of making up some kind of device that would allow me to compress the spring inside the body and get the top split bushes on and inside the unit. This is what I came up with - a piece of 5mm flat bar with a slot cutout to slip past the shaft. On the back is some 30x30 angle to stop the bar flexing. The shaft is spaced underneath with a 25mm long 20mm diameter piece of solid round to extend it high enough out of the body to allow the bushes to go on. This is a shot of the spring fully compressed which allows me to get the top bushing on. Once the flat washer and split bushing is on I clamped it together with a hose clamp


Continued...

Continued...

Another view of the spring compression jig:


With the split bushes held firmly against the shaft the spring compression jig can simply be removed out the back side with some gentle taps with a soft hammer (this was the hairiest part - softly, softly!!). Once the bushes were located inside the relay body far enough so they would not come out the hose clamp was released. Then I simply used the 20T press and a suitable diameter piece of pipe to press the split bushes further down into the relay body. I then (stupidly) put the thrust washer in which didn't allow me to fill up the unit with oil prior to putting the top cap on. So I came up with this novel idea - its just a plastic bit (for want of a better word!) that goes on end of the RTV tubes - it acted as a funnel and made filling the unit mess-free and super easy:


I then left the unit sit full of oil for about 4 hours - Plugger had AFL sign on and training so we had other stuff to do. When I came back I was relieved to find no leaks out past the bottom seal or the bottom plate (new gasket and the use of some RTV on both sides). So, it was time to button it up with another new gasket and some RTV on the top cap:


Then I coated the bottom of the relay body where it sits in the crossmember well with anti-seize and installed it in the chassis. On with the bottom locating ring, upper and lower relay arms - remembering to align the witness marks we installed when we disassembled the unit (a must do guys!!) - fit the steering rod balljoint and some touch-up paint. I am glad I have got this done, just one more thing to tick off. The relay resistance to load is said to be between 12-16 lbs and we came in at 14.5 lbs, so that is a good result. Tick!!


Cheers and thanks,
Tricky and Plugger

I'm a bit confused by this oiling of the steering relay - my relay shaft has a hole through the top with exit holes halfway down the shaft. it which looks like it fits a grease nipple; why can't I just fill it full of grease once it's assembled?

Originally Posted by OneOff

I'm a bit confused by this oiling of the steering relay - my relay shaft has a hole through the top with exit holes halfway down the shaft. it which looks like it fits a grease nipple; why can't I just fill it full of grease once it's assembled?

Yeah mines the same as urs OneOff. Ive left the grease nipple in it and oiled it when i overhauled it for my Betsy build. The relay ive got came of a s2 ex military. I dont know if the older s2 military were greased or if it was an army fix.

Tricky, i oiled my relay up the same as you with a silastic nozzle. So much easier. But i overfilled it and on a hot day the oil was forced out past the top seal. It seems to have settled down now. My relay is still very stiff. Maybe i should go the grease again. Hmmm...


Cheers Rod.